Away From Home
by CrimsonEyedKitty
Summary: Cassidy Ákil is a seventeen year old girl from Iceland. When she moves to Forks, Washington at the beginning of New Moon, she discovers dark, hidden secrets. But Cassidy has a secret of her own.
1. Chapter 1

**Storyline: **Cassidy Ákil is a seventeen year old girl from Iceland. When she moves to Forks, Washington at the beginning of New Moon, she discovers dark, hidden secrets. But Cassidy has a secret of her own.

**A/N: **I don't own anything Twilight related - only the Ákil family. (By the way, Ákil is pronounced like "Yack-keel".)

Review please! :)

_Chapter one: Home, sweet home._

As I stared out the backseat window of my mother's car, a silent tear slid down my cheek. Of course I was happy to move to America, but I was going to miss my homecountry so much. Ever since I was a little girl, I'd complained about living in Iceland, but truth to be told, I loved it. I loved the tall, graceful mountains, clear blue skies and endless fields of green nature, undiscovered and unknown. Okay, a little exaggerating. That was when Iceland was at it's best. In July. It was September now, and the sky was so covered with heavy, gray clouds that you couldn't see anything blue in it. The streets of my hometown were covered with the wet rain, and it was freezing cold. There was a reason for the country's name; _Ice_land. It fit well. There weren't a lot of trees in Iceland. Actually, there were no trees. Well, no forests. A couple of trees here and there, maybe, but no forests. Iceland was just a big rock, covered in grass, snow and crystal-clear water. That was one more thing I was going to have to get used to. In Iceland, you could drink straight from the sink. You didn't have to buy bottle water all the time. Iceland had endless amounts of water, water and more water. Probably because of all the snow and stuff. Icelandic water was the best water in the world. It even said so in one of the Guinnes World Records books. That Iceland had the clearest and best water in the world, I mean.

"Honey.. are you crying?" my mother suddenly asked and I turned my head to see her looking at me in the rearview mirror with a worried expression.

"Naw, I just have something in my eye," I lied. She didn't buy it.

"It's alright, hun. Crying is natural." She was using her overly-caring-mother tone.

"Whatever," I muttered and looked back. We were almost at the airport now.

"Don't be so down, lil sis," my brother said and patted my back.

Alec was my most favorite person in the world. He'd always been a kind of rolemodel for me when I was younger, but now he was my irritating best friend. He was my twenty-four year old older brother, rap-artist and producer. He'd always reminded me of a bear somehow. To others he was just large and intimidating, but to me he was a big teddy bear. If you could compare the six foot five guy with the huge biceps, sitting next to me, to a teddy bear. The reason he was able to sit next to me was that my mother had bought a deep green Toyota jeep a couple of years ago which had a very high ceiling and a lot of space in the backseat. She was driving me and Alec to the airport where we would fly to Seattle. She was staying behind in Iceland to ship the car off along with our furniture and then she would take a plane to Seattle tomorrow. My mom had already applied for and gotten a job as a secretery in the hospital of Forks. Alec had just made a great deal with a record company in Seattle, so he wouldn't be living in Forks with us. He was staying with me tonight though, in the house our mom had bought so that I wouldn't be all alone in a new house, in a new town, in a new country. And because he hadn't yet found an aparment in Seattle.

"How can I not be? I don't know when I'll see my friends next, or home.." My voice broke.

"Hey, hey. S'okay. It's all gonna be okay. You can always email them and stuff. And Forks will be an exciting experience. Don't worry 'bout it so much." I smiled up at him weakly. Even while sitting, he was still much taller than my five foot six.

We were at the airport now. I opened my door and stepped outside into the freezing air. Alec got our bags out of the jeep's trunk and I hugged my mom goodbye. We walked inside the brightlit building and waited in the long line. After what seemed like hours, it was finally our turn to check in. Then we went to the second floor to check in our bags. The plane was right on time, so we didn't have to wait. As we walked down the aisle to our seats, the people on the plane stared at me. I sighed internally. Being pretty was so overrated. I looked a lot like my mother. She had wavy, dark reddish mahogany hair and moss-green eyes. She wore glasses, and had very pale skin. She'd had freckles when she was a kid. She was your typical bookworm. I loved my mother very much, but let's face it: she was a geek. Beautiful, charming and funny, but still a geek.

Alec was looked just like dad, with his blue-green eyes and golden hair. He looked like a viking or something. But he sure didn't rap like one. Everyone said my brother's voice reminded them of some Chamillionaire guy. I didn't really know who that was - I wasn't that much into hip hop and rap. I was more for the Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Nickelback, Simple Plan, Metallica, Slipknot, Avril Lavigne, Evanescence, Within Temptation and The All-American Rejects. Rebel music, my mother called it.

"Aw shit." I turned to look at my bear of a brother sitting next to me.

"What?"

"I forgot my iPod!"

"So? Mom'll just bring it tomorrow." I raised my left eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed and turned on his laptop.

"Um, Alec?" I said with a sarcastic smile. "You know, the music in your iPod comes from a thing called iTunes and it's placed inside your computer. You can listen to music in it."

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the info, but I don't have headphones and the people'll just be annoyed if I listen to my music in the speakers."

"Here, use mine." I said as I reached into my pocket and grabbed my white iPod headphones.

"Are you sure? Aren't you going to listen to music?"

"Naw, it's cool. I'll just steal it back when you're asleep." I smirked. He smirked back.

"Thanks, kid." He ruffled my hair and I rolled my eyes.

I tried to get some sleep myself, but I wasn't really tired so that plan was out. I stared out through the window into the black night. A cloud shifted and the moonlight broke free. It was a full moon tonight. I could feel the tension in my veins. The power flowing through them. My heritage..

I shifted my gaze to the movie that was playing on the screen in front of me. It was about some girl named Juno who got knocked up. Didn't really interest me much.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you earlier. Damien asked for your email address." My eyebrows pulled together as I stared at my brother.

I swallowed. Damien was Alec's hot basketball playing friend. He was four years older than me. I'd had a crush on him since I was like twelve. "Um, okay. Why?"

"Why do you think?" Alec gritted his teeth, jaw tight. He didn't like it when guys liked me more than their friend's little sister. Under his breath he muttered, "You're too pretty for your own good."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I joked. He didn't reply.

Desperate to find something to do, I picked up my small, leather backpack that was lying under my seat and found my sketchbook. I found a long yellow pencil in there too and began to draw a pair of lion eyes. I'd always been a huge Lion King fan. Not because of the story, but because of the art. Young Simba was just the cutest character ever. And he was so fun to draw.

I was finishing Simba's paws when I heard a light snore beside me. Ah, my brother had fallen asleep. I reached over and put his laptop to Stand By, unplugging the headphones at the same time. I put my sketchbook and pencil back in the backpack and dove through my pocket until I found my silver iPod Nano. I flipped through the songs until I found a very soothing one. It was called River Flows In You and was by an artist named Yiruma. It was a soft melody, played on the piano. It was one of my most favorite songs in the world. As the song drifted to a close, I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up when Alec tapped my shoulder, asking me what I wanted to eat. The flight attendant was so very obviously flirting with him and I groaned internally. Why the hell couldn't a guy ask for my email without him getting all pissed, but he didn't mind slutty girls flirting with him all the time? It was so unfair.

"Um, I'm not really hungry. I'll just have a bottle of Mountain Dew," I said.

"Cassidy, you've gotta eat something." My brother shook his head. "Teenage girls. Always worrying about their looks." His expression turned critical. "You're way too skinny. You're gonna end up with anorexia if you don't watch yourself."

"For the last time; I am not worried about my looks, I am not too skinny and I'm not going to end up with anorexia because you'll shove food down my throat if I stop eating. Why can't you just accept the fact that I'm not as hungry as you always are?" I was getting irritated.

"Because I'm your older brother." He said it like an obvious fact. I groaned, but didn't argue any more. I didn't have it in me. I was too emotional for it right now. A mix of excitment, sorrow and irritation. Not the best combination.

I jammed my headphones back into my ears and put on I Don't Give A Damn by Avril Lavigne, turning the volume up. I knew he could hear it.

_Everytime you go away_

_It actually kinda makes my day_

_Everytime you leave, you slam the door_

_You pick your words so carefully_

_You hate to think you're hurting me_

_You leave me laughing on the floor_

_'Cause.._

_I don't give it up_

_I don't give a damn what you say about that_

_You know, I don't give it up_

_I don't give a damn what you say about that_

_You know, I'm not gonna cry_

_About some stupid guy_

_A guy who thinks he's all that_

"Quit being so dramatic," my brother said, rolling his eyes.

I didn't get a chance to answer because the flight attendant came back then with Alec's food and my Mountain Dew. I took one sip from the bottle before putting it in my backpack. I wasn't really thirsty. I'd just ordered the drink to shut my brother up. He could be very annoying when he set his mind to it.

For the rest of the plane ride, I listened to all three of Avril Lavigne's CDs. When we landed in Seattle, I sighed with relief. There was so little to do on planes, and I had a problem with sitting still. I went through the motions as we left the plane, not really noticing what we were doing. My brain barely registered as we checked out our bags, and when we got in the rental car. I had a lot on my mind. I listened to Evanescence while we drove to Forks. Amy Lee's voice had a very calming affect on me.

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned off my iPod as the car slowed down. We were in the driveway in front of the house we'd bought. It had two floors and clearly needed some painting. It's color had probably been a lightblue once, but it seemed grey now. The windows were slightly fogged and the big, brown front door looked ancient. It was very.. _creepy_. I shivered as I stepped out of the car, grabbing my black leather backpack with me. I dove through my pockets until I found the keys and opened the door. The thing made a creeking sound as it opened slowly. It felt like a scene from a horror movie. It _looked_ like a scene from a horror movie.

"This place is _so cool_!"My brother's voice boomed from behind me, making me jump a little. "Let's check it out!"

He stepped over the threshold, holding both our suitcases in his right hand. I followed him inside the house, closing the door behind me and flicking on the lights. Once inside, it wasn't nearly as creepy. The floor was paneled with dark, mahogany brown wood. There was a staircase in the same colour. The four walls in the room were a warm, skyblue. On the first floor, I realized, were just foor walls. The front door just opened up into a wide, empty space. Well, not empty really. On the right, there was the kitchen. It had counters, a sink, a fridge and a dishwasher. On the left, there was the living room which was now completely packed with the boxes we'd shipped yesterday. Moving to another country cost a _lot_ of shipping money. I made a mental note never to move again, then sighed as I realized that meant never moving back home to Iceland, either. My brother looked at me with a confused expression.

"You don't like it?" he asked, puzzled.

"Like what?"

"The house, dummy." He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Oh, no. I mean, I love the house, it's just.."

"Not home."

"Yeah."

He nodded sympathetically. Then he suddenly grinned.

"So, wanna go pick rooms?"

I somehow managed to grin back. "Last one up's a loser."

I dropped my backpack to the floor and ran up the stairs. When I was almost at the top Alec caught me by the waist and pulled me back, growling playfully.

"Let me go! Cheater!" I giggled.

"Cassy's a loser! Cassy's a loser!" He smirked teasingly.

"Gosh, I wonder what her brother's like." I said sarcastically. He just kept smiling.

"So little sister," he said, letting go of me. "Which room do you want? The small one with pretty, nature view, or the big one that's in the street direction?"

"Hm. Tough one. But, I'll have to take the big room. Mom has to have her view."

"Yeah, and you have to have your space." His grin widened.

I finally looked around on the second floor. The 'small room' turned out to be pretty big and the 'big room' -my room- was _huge_. It even had a balcony. I loved it instantly. Inside my new room was a king-size, black iron bed with a really big, white mattress on top. There was a large closet with a lot of drawers, and a desk. Both of the furniture had the same mahogany brown color as the floor. The walls were a light emerald green, so the room reminded me of a forest. I could already picture my things here. My bookshelf, my TV, my laptop on the desk, my black office chair beside it, my band and movie posters spread all over the walls along with picture's I'd drawn myself, my clothes in the big wardrobe and my skateboard leaning against the wall. It was perfect. But it still wasn't home to me yet.

My mother's new room had warm, light-orange walls and the same mahogany floor. There was also a king-size bed in her room, a desk and a closet. I could very well picture her sitting in front of the desk, typing on her computer keyboard or sitting in the large bed, reading a novel. This room was so _mom_. It was warm and homey. Just like my mother. I could almost smell the scent of the brownie muffins she always made on sundays. This house was perfect for us, even though it looked creepy and odd on the outside.

After looking at the rooms, I suddenly realized there was something missing. A bathroom.

"Hey, Alec? Where the hell is the bathroom?" I asked my brother.

"Downstairs."

"Um, where exactly?"

"It's right across the room from the front door. Didn't you notice?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Nope. And thanks."

I skipped downstairs and there it was: a mahogany brown door that had the word _Bathroom _on it. Inside, there was a big bathtub, a shower, a toilet, a sink, closet and a large mirror with shelves next to it on either side. There were tiles on the floor that looked like a chess board, and the walls were white. Actually, everything in there was white - except for the black tiles.

I looked into the mirror and stared my face. The wavy golden locks that surrounded my face hung all the way down to my waist in layers. I had very thick hair, but it was still silky soft. I wasn't blonde like most Icelanders. My hair was a beautiful shade of gold. My green eyes were more cat-like than usual in the dim light from the bathroom ceiling. My arched eyebrows, straight nose and full, crimson red lips were very close to perfection. My mother always said I looked just like Elizabeth Taylor. And she was right. I did look very much like Elizabeth Taylor, except for the hair color and my eyes weren't the color of amethyst; they were a sparkling emerald.

I went back into the living room and started carrying up the boxes what had my name on it. I unpacked everything I owned from the boxes and when all my clothes were in the closet, my books in a pile next to the bed (my mom was shipping the furniture today, so my bookshelf wasn't here yet), all of my pictures and posters on the walls and my laptop on the desk, I found myself being very tired. I went down to the first floor and found Alec connecting the TV in the living room. He'd ordered pizza while I was unpacking, and had unpacked all of mom's stuff. The only boxes left now had his stuff in it. We didn't have any chairs, so we sat on pillows on the floor and watched _2 Fast 2, Furious_ while we ate. When we'd finished the pizza -Alec ate almost all of it, I had only two slices- and the movie was over, we both went straight to bed. Alec slept in mom's bed tonight. I didn't need music to fall asleep this time, I was really tired after everything that had happened today. First, I'd said goodbye to all of my friends and family, finished packing, went to the airport and on the plane and then unpacked everything. I was so tired that I fell asleep the moment I closed my eyes. Tomorrow would be a very trying day, too. It was Monday, the first day of my new school, in this new town, in a new country. I could never have guessed how tomorrow would completely alter my existance. I doubt anything could have propared me for what was coming. But I wasn't worried about anything except Spanish lessons, and fitting in with the other teenagers, as the full moon faded to the break of dawn.


	2. Chapter 2

**Storyline: **Cassidy Ákil is seventeen year old girl from Iceland. When she moves to Forks, Washington at the beginning of New Moon, she discovers dark, hidden secrets. But Cassidy has a secret of her own.

**A/N:** _Italicized _sentences are from the real _Twilight Saga: New Moon_ book. Absolutely no copyright infragement intended. Stephenie Meyer owns all the brilliancy that is Twilight. I own nothing but the Ákil family. :3

**Review please! :)**

_Chapter two: Heritage._

I woke up early on Monday morning, three hours before school was supposed to start. Alec was still sleeping. I could tell I had a cold; I couldn't breathe through my nose. I flipped through my stack of books and found a very worn paperback. It was Lord of the Rings, Part I: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was one of my favorite books. I _loved_ creative writing. It was so easy to forget your own worries when reading about Frodo's hard journey through the land of Mordor. I sat crosslegged on my bed and read the book until Alec woke up, two hours later.

"Yo, sis, wake up!" he called, running into my room. He raised one eyebrow when he saw me sitting there, reading Lord of the Rings. "You're reading that thing _again_?" He sounded stunned.

I shrugged. "It's a great story." Alec just shook his head sadly. As I stood up and put the book on my desk, I realized something. "Um, Alec.. what are we having for breakfast?"

"Hm.. that's a good question. We'll have to see if any shops are open. We don't have any food." He smiled sheepishly.

"Okay."

"Hey, have you looked outside? The weather is _so_ creepy looking." I grimaced and walked over to the window. I drew back the curtains and looked outside. Fog, so thick that I couldn't see anything else, covered the small town of Forks. Looking at it made our new house feel like a cage. I shivered.

"Right. Creepy."

Alec looked at my pajamas suddenly. "Get dressed and drag your ass down or you're going to miss school."

I rolled my eyes. "School starts at eight, 's an hour from now."

"Yes, but if we're going food-hunting, you better hurry up. Now get dressed." I sighed internally. There was no disobeying Alec when he was in command-mode. He would probably do well as an army captain, the way he always bossed me around. But then again, he was still too nice for it. He was just.. well, a gangster.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered and closed the door behind him. I walked over to the huge closet and picked out my outfit. What did you wear for your first day at school, anyway? After trying almost all of my clothes on, I settled for a red hoodie, black jeans and a black V-necked T-shirt. I ran downstairs and into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and struggled to put my thick golden curls up into a pony tail. When I was done with that, I swiftly put on some eyeliner and ran to the front door. I put on my white sneakers on in a hurry and ran outside where Alec was already waiting in the car. I smacked my palm to my forehead and ran back inside, leaving Alec with a confused expression. I ran upstairs into my new bedroom and grabbed my schoolbag. I decided to grab my jacket too, since it was so damn cold outside. I ran back out and practically threw myself into the car.

"Jeez, what took you so long?" Alec asked with an annoyed expression. He hated waiting.

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," I answered him, nodding wisely. He rolled his eyes.

We drove through town -Alec going way over the speed limit- until we found an open shop, which was placed across the street from the school. I grabbed an apple and a bottle of water while Alec shopped some real food. I paid for my breakfast and ate it quickly outside as I walked towards my new school. If Alec hadn't told me, I would never have realized it was a school. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks and it was surrounded by trees. The first building had a small sign over the door that said "Front Office". I opened the door and stepped inside. A red-haired secretary was sitting behind a light-brown desk that cut the small room in half.

"Hi. Um, I'm Cassidy Ákil.." She cut me off, smiling warmly.

"Oh, yes! I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school. And here's a slip that you need to ask all of your teachers to sign, then return it back here when school's over."

I smiled back at her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Good luck." Yeah. I was going to need it.

My first class was Trig with Mr. Varner. I sighed internally as he made me stand in front of class and introduce myself. The morning flew by in a blur and it wasn't until I entered the cafeteria that I realized how fast the day had gone by. People had stared at me alot, but no one had really talked to me. Only this one girl, Angela, who sat by me in English. She'd asked me how I liked school so far and I'd told her it was okay. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.

I looked around in the cafeteria, trying to find an empty seat - or better, a table. I noticed one table in particular, that had four empty seats. A group of teenagers was sitting on one side of the table, and another on the other side. On the left, there was a boy with bronze hair and a small dark-haired girl sitting next to him, their backs to me. Facing the boy, sat a girl with beautiful mahogany brown hair. She was talking to both groups. I bit my lip as I realized that the seats at that table were the only seats available in the room. As I was debating on wether to skip lunch or to sit down next to the strangers, the bronze-haired boy turned around to look at me. I felt my eyes widen as I took in his face. It was inhumanly beautiful and his golden eyes seemed to see right through me. I had a strange feeling that he could read me like an open book. He smiled crookedly as that thought crossed my mind. I was finally able to break my stare at him, just to find myself staring at the pixie-like girl beside him. She'd turned around too, and she was just as beautiful as he was. She looked like a freaking supermodel. As our eyes met -and I noticed her eyes were the same golden color as his were- she smiled cheerfully. I noticed that the teenage boy next to her gave her a dark look.

"Hey, new girl!" She called in my direction. "You can sit with us if you like." She gestured toward the empty seat across the table from her, next to the mahogany-haired girl.

I walked hesitantly to their table and sat down in the seat.

"My name's Alice Cullen, this is Bella Swan and my brother, Edward."

"I'm Cassidy." I bit my lip shyly. I was always so shy around strangers, though I was the life of the party when I was with my friends and family.

Bella -who I noticed had very beautiful brown eyes- looked at me with an odd expression. I didn't know what to really make of it. She looked curious but resentful at the same time. Angry, but still friendly. Oh well. Maybe it wasn't me she was pissed at.

"So, how do you like Forks so far?" Alice asked.

"Um.. it's okay, I guess. It's just so.. _green_." I admitted sheepishly. Edward pressed his lips together, but Bella couldn't repress her laughter as well as he could and covered her hand with her mouth to stifle her laughter. I was clearly missing an inside joke. Alice seemed to be missing it too.

"What's so funny?" she asked, sounding irritated.

Edward began in a velvety voice, "Oh, it's nothing, really. Just.. well, Bella said it once in-"

Bella cut him off. "It's a long story." Alice narrowed here eyes, but let it go. Or so I thought.

"It's Bella's birthday today," she said. This time, Bella narrowed her eyes.

"Alice!" she hissed under her breath. "Shh!"

My eyebrows pulled together. "You don't want people to know it's your birthday?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because then they'll want to give me presents." What a strange answer.

"You don't want presents?"

Alice answered my question by whispering in my ear, loud enough so that both Edward and Bella could clearly hear it, "Bella's just weird that way. We think it's some glitch in her brain."

I giggled and the Cullens grinned. Bella was grinning too after a moment.

I spent the rest of lunch getting to know Alice, Edward and Bella. Even though they were all a year older than me, I was in the same class as them. I'd been moved up a grade back in Iceland. One of the benefits of having a genius for a mother; I'd inherited her intellagence.

The afternoon passed quickly and I didn't see the Cullens and Bella until school was over. Bella and Edward stood by an old red truck, and I saw Alice walking towards a shining, silver Volvo. When she saw me, she waved and called my name. I walked over to her.

"Hey, I'm having a birthday party for Bella tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted to come home with me and help me decorate and stuff? I mean, if you're not doing anything else." She said it like she knew I wasn't doing anything else. Strange.

"Sure. Let me just call my brother."

Alice grinned. "Awesome."

I dialed Alec's number and hit the 'call' button.

"Yo," my brother's deep voice said into my ear.

"Hey, Alec. Listen, you don't need to come pick me up. I'm going to help Alice - this girl I met in school - decorate for a birthday party. Tell mom I said hi."

"'Kay." His voice turned grave. "Be home before ten or else..." He hung up. I laughed and Alice's grin widened.

"Let's go then!" Alice said cheerfully. She was a very positive person to be around. She was so.. _happy_. And it was highly contagious.

I walked around the car and opened the front passenger seat door. Alice was already in the driver's seat. Wow, that was fast. She turned on the stereo and connected her iPod to it. She flipped through the songs until she found the one she was looking for. I recognized the song instantly. This was the only Hilary Duff song I liked. Alice started singing and I joined in after a moment. It was hard to be shy around Alice; she was so full of life. Like a tiny, blackhaired ball of energy.

_You think you're going nowhere_

_When you're walking down the street_

_Acting like you just don't care_

_That life could be so sweet_

_But why you wanna be like that?_

_As if there's nothing new?_

_You're not fooling no one_

_You're not even fooling you_

_So walk a little slower_

_And open up your eyes_

_Sometimes it's so hard to see_

_The good things passing by_

_There may never be a sign_

_No flashing neon light_

_Telling you to make your move_

_Or when the time is right_

_So.. Why not_

_Take a crazy chance?_

_Why not_

_Do a crazy dance?_

_If you lose a moment_

_You might lose alot_

_So why not_

_Why not?_

_Why not take a crazy chance?_

_Why not take a crazy chance?_

_You always dress in yellow_

_When you wanna dress in gold_

_Instead of listening to your heart_

_You do just what you're told_

_You keep waiting where you are_

_For what you'll never know_

_Let's just get into your car_

_And go baby, go_

_So.. Why not_

_Take a crazy chance?_

_Why not_

_Do a crazy dance?_

_If you lose a moment_

_You might lose alot_

_So why not_

_Why not?_

_Oh, I could be the one for you_

_Oh, yeah, maybe yes, maybe no_

_Oh, it could be the things you do_

_What I'm saying is you gotta let me know_

_You'll never get to heaven_

_Or even to L.A._

_If you don't believe there's a way_

_Why not_

_Take a star from the sky?_

_Why not_

_Spread your wings and fly? Oh!_

_It might take a little and it might take alot_

_But why not?_

_Why not?_

_Why not_

_Take a crazy chance?_

_Why not_

_Do a crazy dance?_

_If you lose a moment_

_You might lose alot_

_So why not_

_Why not?_

We were giggling hysterically when the song ended. I was beginning to really like Alice. She turned the volume to background music as the next song started playing.

"You like Hilary Duff?" Alice asked me.

"Not really," I admitted. "Just this one song, Why Not."

She grinned. "Same here. What music do you normally listen to? Like, what's your favorite band?"

"Hm.. I'll have to say either Green Day or My Chemical Romance. Evanescence is one of my favorites too."

"Coolness! Green Day rocks, and Amy Lee has such a pretty voice. I don't think I've ever heard anything with My Chemical Romance, though."

"Really?" I grinned. "Then I'll just have to introduce you to one of the greatest bands ever." I took my iPod from my pocket and connected it to the stereo. I flipped through the songs until I found Welcome to the Black Parade. Alice raised one eyebrow as the song started.

"Just wait." I said, still grinning. "The first verses are like that, but there's rock later."

She grinned back and nodded her tiny head to the beat. Soon, we were both singing along with the song. Alice somehow seemed to always know what words were coming next. It was like she was psychic or something.

We were at the house now (or should I say mansion?). It was huge and white in Victorian style, and so surrounded by trees that it was invisible to the cars speeding down the highway. It was beautiful. But still, too green. I smiled to myself as I wondered what that 'long story' Edward and Bella'd had.

"Here we are," Alice said as she killed the engine.

"Nice house." I nodded appreciatively.

"I know." She grinned.

Inside, it was very bright, very open and very large. This must have originally been several

rooms, but the walls had been removed from most of the first floor to create one

wide space. The back, south-facing wall had been entirely replaced with glass,

and, beyond the shade of the cedars, the lawn stretched bare to the wide river. A

massive curving staircase dominated the west side of the room. The walls, the

high-beamed ceiling, the wooden floors, and the thick carpets were all varying

shades of white. And it was _very_ beautiful.

"Wow. This is amazing."

Alice nodded. "Esme, our adoptive-mother, is a great architecture."

"Wow," I repeated.

"Alice." I looked up to see a tall, blonde male leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs. He'd said her name with so much emotion that I felt my jaw drop. This was clearly Jasper, Alice's boyfriend. She'd told me lots about him during lunch. "Who's your friend?"

"Jazz, this is Cassidy. She's going to help me decorate for Bella's birthday party."

"Nice to meet you, Cassidy." He smiled down at me.

"Nice to meet you too." I smiled back up at him. Another blonde man appeared at the top of the stairs. I assumed he was Carlisle, Alice's adoptive-father. Shock crossed his face for a second when he saw me, but he controlled his expression. I couldn't help but wonder what'd shocked him so.

"Welcome home, Alice. How was your day?" He asked politely.

"Great! Cassidy here just moved here and she's going to help me decorate for Bella's party."

"Hello, Cassidy."

"Hi. You're Carlisle, right?"

"Yes." He smiled a warm smile which I returned.

"So, should we get started?" Alice asked me.

"Sure. Just tell me what to do."

--

After hours of decorating, putting pink roses in crystal vases and bowls, hanging up what seemed like thousands of Japanese lanters and covering every flat surface with pink candles and more flowers, we were finally finished. The beautiful mansion was amazing; Alice was an awesome decorator. She should totally get a job as a wedding planner. She giggled when I told her that, and for the second time today, I felt like I was missing an inside joke.

"Vampies, we're hooooooooome!" a deep voice suddenly boomed through the house. I jumped up from the white couch as the sound startled me. My eyebrows pulled together. _Vampies_?

"Emmett, Rosalie!" Alice was up in a flash and had opened the door before I even had a chance to blink my eyes. A _huge _dark-haired male walked inside with the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. She had the same color of golden blonde hair as I did, and they both had deep golden eyes. Sheesh, what was with the eyes? Did they all wear contacts or something? A fraction of a lost memory crawled it's way into my mind and I remembered the feel of sharp teeth on my arm. It was gone before I could put my finger on what it was. Oh, never mind. I had hunches all the time. It came with my heritage...

"Who's this?" Emmett grinned widely in my direction. He suddenly reminded me very strongly of Alec. They both had the exact same body type and brilliant smile. The only difference, really, was the hair and eye color.

"My new friend, Cassidy," Alice announced with a grin that matched Emmett's. Rosalie stared at Alice with the oddest expression on her face. She looked furious. "She helped me decorate."

"Cool. So does she know that-?"

Alice didn't let him finish the sentence. "Yeah, she knows it's Bella's birthday." She said the words in a hurry.

"Alice, can I talk to you for a moment in the kitchen?" Rosalie asked in a stern voice.

Alice swallowed rather loudly. "Um, sure."

"So, you're the new girl, huh?" Emmett asked me when the girls had left the room.

"Yep. I'm working on my crazy-eyes," I joked.

Emmett's grin impossibly widened. "The New Guy is an awesome movie."

I grinned back. "I know."

Alice and Rosalie walked back into the living room then, both with their arms crossed over their chests.

"Bella and Edward will be here soon." Alice said suddenly. "Everybody, take positions!"

Carlisle and a beautiful woman -who I could only assume was Esme- with caramel brown hair and.. _golden eyes_. Jeez, what was _with_ the eyes?

An engine roared in front of the house, and I guessed it was the ancient-looking red truck. I guessed right. A blushing Bella and a laughing Edward came through the door, hand in hand.

"_Happy birthday, Bella_!" We half-shouted in chorus. Bella gulped and Edward put his arm around her waist, kissing the top of her head. Esme hugged Bella and Carlisle put his arm around her shoulders in a reassuring gesture. "_Sorry about this, Bella_," I heard him whisper. "_We couldn't rein Alice in_."

"_You haven't changed at all_," Emmett said with mock disappointment. "_I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always_."

"_Thanks a lot, Emmett_," Bella said, blushing deeper.

Emmett laughed. "_I have to step out for a second" -_he paused to wink conspicuously at Alice-_ "Don't do anything funny while I'm gone_."

"_I'll try_."

Alice, who had been holding Jasper's hand, let go and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light. Jasper was smiling too, still standing at the foot of the stairs.

"_Time to open presents_!" Alice declared. She grabbed Bella's elbow and towed her to the table with the cake we'd baked earlier and the shiny packages I'd helped her giftwrap.

"_Alice, you know I told you I didn't want anything_-" Bella began but Alice cut her off.

"_But I didn't listen. Now, open it_." She took the camera Bella'd been holding away from her and replaced it with a big, square silver box.

Bella weighed it in her hand for a moment, and then tore the paper off. She opened the box, to see exactly nothing.

"_Um... thanks_."

Rosalie smiled and Jasper laughed. "_It's a stereo for your truck_," he explained to Bella. "_Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it_."

"_Thanks, Jasper, Rosalie_," Bella said with a grin. "_Thanks, Emmett_!" She called more loudly.

Emmett's booming laughter echoed from the garage and we all joined in.

"_Open mine and Edward's next_," Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She held a small, flat square in her hand. Bella turned to face Edward and the phrase _If looks could kill_ popped into my head.

"_You promised_." She said in a cold voice.

Before Edward could answer, Emmett bounded through the door. "_Just in time_!" he crowed. He pushed in behind Jasper, who had drifted closer.

"_I didn't spend a dime_," Edward assured his irritated girlfriend, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

Sighing, Bella turned to Alice. "_Give it to me_."

Edward chuckled with delight.

She took the little package, rolling her eyes at Edward while sticking her finger under the edge of the paper and jerking it under the tape.

"_Shoot_," she muttered when the paper sliced her finger.

Everything happened very fast, then.

"_No_!" Edward roared, throwing himself at Bella and flinging her back across the table. It fell, as she did, scattering the cake and the presents, the flowers and the plates. Bella landed in the mess of shattered crystal.

Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rock slide.

There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from the deep in Jasper's chest. Jasper tried to shove past Edward, snapping his teeth just inches form Edward's face.

That's where my instinct took over. I suddenly remembered very clearly what I'd seen in the memories from my ancestors. I was supposed to keep my heritage a secret, but I couldn't just stand there and watch the vampire -because that's what I realized they were- kill Bella because of a papercut.

So, suddenly I was standing on four feet on the living room floor, looking up into Jasper's wild eyes that were focused on Bella. Everyone in the room except Jasper and Edward were staring at me with wide eyes. Yes, they weren't the only thing mythical in the room. Long lost legends. Stuff of nightmares. They were made that way, had been killed to become that way. I was born that way. It was my heritage to be a what I was. The best of man and best of beast. Worshipped throughout Romania, especially in Bucharest. It was my heritage to be a wolf. A Loup Garoux.


	3. Chapter 3

**Storyline: **Cassidy Ákil is a seventeen year old girl from Iceland. When she moves to Forks, Washington at the beginning of New Moon, she discovers dark, hidden secrets. But Cassidy has a secret of her own.

**A/N:** For those who need an explanation on what is a Loup Garoux, you can of course either Google it (or use any other search engine to find out) or simply rent the movie Blood & Chocolate. For those who are really lazy and don't have time to do either one of those things, Loup Garoux are men that change into wolves - or rather wolves that change into men. They were worshipped throughout Romania, and were the best of man and best of beast. Not monsters, not like werewolves. They were above human kind, the next thing to Gods. They're not like Stephenie Meyer's wolf-people either. They don't change into huge wolves when they reach puberty, they change into ordinary wolves - but they do have superstrength, speed, smell, sight and all of that. That's how Cassidy was able to hear what Carlisle whispered into Bella's ear, and she would have recognized the vampires' smell instantly if she hadn't had a cold. But, on with the story!

P.S. Reviews make me happy :D

_Chapter three: Where destiny awaits._

Standing there in my wolf form, I could smell them clearly. The reeking stench of their immortal bodies - alive, but yet dead - almost burnt my nose. They were still staring at me in shock. But Carlisle was the first to recover. Of course. He must be the oldest - the 'father'. Their creator.

"How fascinating!" he said in a stunned, but curious voice. "Very fascinating, indeed. A werewolf?" he mused.

I rolled my eyes at him. _Werewolves_ changed into horrifying beasts at a full moon and drewled all over the place. To think _I_ was a werewolf was.. well, an insult. The moment I rolled my eyes, Emmett relaxed his tense position and his booming laughter echoed through the big house.

I held up my paw in a gesture to say 'Stay here, I'll be right back'. And then I collected my clothes together and ran into the bathroom, still fourlegged. I changed back to my human body and put my clothes on. They were a bit torn - the flaw of having claws - but didn't reveal anything they shouldn't so I walked back into the living room.

When I came back, Carlisle told Rose and Emmett to take Jasper outside. He still had his teeth bared and that wild look was still in his eyes. Edward hadn't relaxed a bit, and his face was even whiter than usual. And that was something for a guy who had chalky white skin. I could tell he wasn't breathing. But I wasn't watching him, really. I was watching Carlisle. Everyone else in the room had stopped breathing, but Carlisle acted like he was just human. The smell of human blood hadn't affected him the least.

"How do you do that?" I asked him.

"Shouldn't _I _be the one asking questions?" He smiled.

"Probably. But I'm curious. Why doesn't human blood affect you?"

"Oh, it does. But I have had centuries of practice. I'm a doctor, Cassidy. I deal with the scent of human blood every single day." While he talked, he walked over to Bella and knelt down beside her, closely examining her bleeding arm.

"_Here, Carlisle_." Alice said, handing him a towel.

He shook his head. "_Too much glass in the wound_." Carlisle reached over and ripped a long, thin scrap from the bottom of the white tablecloth. He twisted it around Bella's arm above te elbow to forma tourniquet. She seemed to be dizzy.

"_Bella_," Carlisle said softly. "_Do you want me to drive you to the hospital, or would you like me to take care of it here_?"

"_Here, please_," she whispered.

"_I'll get your bag_," Alice said to Carlisle.

"_Let's take her to the kitchen table_," Carlisle said to Edward.

Edward lifted her effortlessly, while Carlisle kept the pressure steady on her arm and they carried her to the kitchen table. Edward's face was still grave. I followed them into the kitchen where Alice stood. Carlisle black bag was already on the table. Edward put Bella gently into a chair, and Carlisle pulled up another. He started picking glass from the wound at once. Edward stood there, still as a statue, hovering protectively, still not breathing.

"_Just go, Edward_," Bella sighed.

"_I can handle it_," he insisted, but his jaw was rigid; his eyes burned with clear thirst and I felt the urge to throw myself onto him, to keep him away from Bella. To protect her. I sighed internally. My heritage was both a blessing and a burden.

"_You don't need to be a hero_," Bella said, and for a second I thought she was talking to me, but she was looking at Edward with eyes full of love and sympathy. The guy wanted to freaking drain her body and she was all sympathetic. Alice was right. There _was _a glitch in her brain. I suddenly wondered what I myself was still doing here. "Carlisle can fix me up without your help. Get some fresh air." She winced as Carlisle started stiching her arm together.

"_I'll stay_," Edward said in a hard voice.

"_Why are you so masochistic_?" Bella mumbled.

"_Edward, you may as well go find Jasper before he gets too far. I'm sure he's upset himself, and I doubt he'll listen to anyone but you right now_," Carlisle said.

"_Yes_," Bella eagerly agreed. "_Go find Jasper_."

"_You might as well do something useful_," Alice added.

I felt like I had to say something too. "Yeah, go help your brother. If the rest of your family over here try to eat Bella, I'll just kick their ass." I smirked confidently. Carlisle shot me a nervous glance and my grin grew wider.

Edward's eyes narrowed as we ganged up on him, but, finally, he nodded once and sprinted smoothly through the kitchen's back door. Alice disappeared out the kitchen doorway, too, after a moment. I didn't blame her. The scent of Bella's blood was stronger than the reeking scent of the bloodsuckers. I decided to follow Alice. There was no use for me in the kitchen, at least not doctorwise.

I found Alice outside on the steps, curled up in a ball. I was sure she would be crying if she were human.

"Alice?" I whispered. She just nodded. "This isn't your fault." A voice in my head asked me why the hell I was comforting a vampire, but I shut it up. Vampire or not, Alice was the nicest person I'd met in Forks. She was my friend, and I wasn't going to let her suffer for what she was. I knew how it felt to carry that burden.

"Yes, it is," she sobbed. "If I hadn't planned this stupid birthday party, none of this would have happened. Do you know what I saw in my vision? He wants us to leave!"

I was confused. "Wait, vision? Who wants you to leave?"

She cleared her throat and looked up at me. I sat down beside her.

"Some of us vampires have special powers. Not like superstrength or speed or none of that. Something else. We don't really know why. I can see the future, Edward can read minds and Jasper can control your emotions."

Well, that explained his behavior. "So, in this vision, what did you see?" I asked her.

"Edward. Us. All of us. The Cullens, leaving, never returning." She smiled a tiny smile. "That's why I wanted to get to know you, you know. I saw a vision of the two of us as best friends. Rosalie was _so_ pissed at me about it. She's scared that Edward and me will reveal our secret, with all our _mingling_ with the humans. But I knew you were something more, though I couldn't put my finger on what. Now I know."

"But.. why do you have to leave?" I felt cold, but it wasn't the weather.

"Because my stupid, stubborn brother wants us to. He thinks it's too dangerous for us to be here anymore, to be in Forks, to be near Bella. He tried it when he first met her you know. He left... But he came back. He couldn't stay away from her. He loves her, and he's going to leave her! I would _never _leave Jasper." She sounded really angry at Edward.

I groaned. "Ugh, this is so the story of my life. Yeah, move to America, meet new friends your first day there, they turn out to be vampires and they're gonna leave. Typical." I shook my head. "If you leave.. you'll keep in touch, right? Like emails and stuff?"

"Not if Edward can help it. It's really annoying to have him read my mind all the time. There are no secrets. It's so unfair, because we can't read _his_ mind back."

I thought about that for a moment, then decided I didn't like Edward very much. "What a dick."

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Edward. Thinks he can just do whatever he wants, control you guys like that? Break Bella's heart? I can see the way she looks at him. She'll be devastated. Not that I understand why the hell she loves him - he's a stupid, overprotective _dick_."

Alice nodded, thoughtful. "You're right. He _is_ a dick. But.. he's still my brother."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. My brother, Alec, is like Emmett but with Edward's personality. Only funnier."

"Lucky you." She laughed. I joined in.

"What's so funny?" A velvety voice asked behind us. I turned around to find the gorgeous blonde named Rosalie, standing on the steps beside us. She sat down so that I was in the middle of her and Alice.

"Cassidy has a brother who's like a combination of Emmett and Edward. Poor girl." Alice shook her head in mock sympathy.

Rosalie smiled. "Yes, I can see how that would be amusing."

"How's Jasper?" Alice asked, her voice suddenly anxious.

"He's calmed down a bit, but he's very upset with himself."

Alice sighed. "I'm pretty sure Bella will never let me plan her birthday again. This gives her one more reason to hate it, besides the getting older thing."

I raised one eyebrow. "What, she doesn't want to turn eighteen?"

"No," Alice said, and she seemed to be debating on something. After a moment, she added in a quiet voice, "Bella wants to become a vampire."

"She _knows_? I thought that was against your law." I was stunned. She _knew_ and she was okay with it? She _wanted_ to become a _monster_? This made it final, there _was_ a glitch in her brain.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Bella is strange in many ways."

"But.. how can someone _want_ that? I mean, I get the whole superstrength and speed and inhuman beauty and all, but.. she wants to become a _monster_?" I shook my head, trying to make reason of this new information.

"Bella doesn't see it that way," Rosalie said in a cold voice. "She's so humanly blind. I envy her. She can live her life normally, get married, have kids. Have a future. And yet she chooses to become stuck in the past. A shadow of the person she once was, wandering around for an eternity." I had the feeling Rosalie wasn't talking about Bella anymore.

Alice rolled her eyes in a 'tell-me-about-it'-way. "Being a vampire is _so_ overrated. Werewolves are way cooler."

This time, I was the one to roll my eyes. "I am _not _a werewolf. I'm a Loup Garoux."

"A _what_?"

"A Loup Garoux. The best of man, the best of wolf. Not a werewolf, a human that changes into a wolf, but a wolf that changes into a human. And we don't need a full moon to do it. We don't get bitten either, it's in our blood. Our heritage. Well, that's a short explanation, anyway."

"_Loo Garoo_?" Alice repeated. "How do you spell that?"

"L-o-u-p G-a-r-o-u-x. Loup Garoux."

"Huh. I've never heard about Loup Garoux before... So you're like wolf shapeshifters then?"

"I guess."

"But how does that work? Are everyone in your family elle-gees then?"

"LG's? Hm, no. Well, everyone in my father's family are. My mother is a totally human. Me and my brother, Alec, we're both wolves."

"Cool."

"Yeah.."

We sat there in silence for a moment. I heard soft footsteps on the wet ground and looked up. I probably wouldn't have heard Edward coming if I were human, his walk was so quiet. But, since I was a Loup Garoux with superhearing, I did.

"Is Jazz okay?" Alice asked, looking at Edward with hopeful eyes.

"Yes." Edward's jaw was tight. "But he's not the one I'm worried about. Excuse me."

I stood up so that he could walk up the stairs to the house. I wondered why he hadn't just used the back door again.

I sat down on the steps in between Alice and Rosalie again, and sighed.

"What is his _problem_? Everybody makes mistakes." I turned my head to look at Rosalie. "It's not like he's perfect, like he's never lost control! We've all done it, except Carlisle."

"Done what?" I asked the beautiful blonde.

"Attacked a human. Even Esme has done it. If anyone's close to perfect, it's _me_. I only killed my murderer."

I raised my eyebrows. "Murderer? I thought Carlisle'd changed you."

Rosalie smiled. "Carlisle only changes people that are nearly dead. He would never waste a life. My fianceé _almost_ killed me, with help from his pathetic friends." She wasn't smiling anymore. "But that is another story, for another time."

I nodded and glanced at the watch on my wrist. "Shoot, I have to go. I was supposed to be home fourty-five minutes ago."

Alice stood up. "I'll get the car."

I shook my head. "No, don't worry 'bout it. I'll just run home. You go take care of Jasper."

"I'm not going to make you run all the way back to your home, just because of me," a quiet voice said and I looked up to see Emmett and Jasper walking towards us. Alice ran to his side.

Emmett grinned at me. "I'll drive you! Where do you live, anyway?"

"Um.. I'm not really sure what the address is. It's a creepy gray house in a small street to the east of Forks."

Emmett's grin widened. "I know where that is! Typical for you mythical creatures to live in creepy houses."

I rolled my eyes. "Look who's talking. Besides, we're not mythical. We're barely legendary."

"Whatever, goldielocks."

He ran into the garage, and came out the huge door on a even huger red jeep.

"Nice ride," I commented.

He was still grinning. "I know."

--

The drive to my new house was loud. We didn't talk much, but Emmett was listening to Eminem all the way there, with the volume at it's highest. Alec came running out the front door, the moment Emmett parked the car in the driveway.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you for the last twenty minutes." My overprotective brother was paranoid, as always. "And who the hell is this?"

I got out of the car and Emmett did the same. "Chill, bro. Something came up. This is Emmett, Alice's brother."

Standing there with the two of them on either side of me, I felt extremely small. They were both just so _huge_.

"Whatever. Let's go, Mom's waiting for you." He tugged on my arm.

"Bye, Emmett. Thanks for the lift. And wish Bella a happy birthday recovery from me," I said with a smile that Emmett returned.

"Will do. See ya, goldielocks." He waved and got into his car. He did it a little too quickly. I felt my hand go a bit numb as Alec tightened his grip on it. A low growl rumbled from his chest. _Crap_.

"Alec, before you do anything rash, listen to me." But he didn't. Listen to me, that is.

"Vampire," my brother snarled. He tore up the driverseat's door on Emmett's car and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him out.

"Alec, he's not evil!" I shouted, but he wasn't listening to me. He stared at the vampire in front of him with a furious expression, his nostrils flaring voilently.

"Blood-reeking leech." Alec narrowed his eyes and looked at me. "What the _hell_ where you thinking? Getting into a car with a _vampire_? _Have you completely lost your mind_?"

I sighed. "Alec, he only drinks animal blood. Look at his eyes if you don't believe me. They're golden, not red. He doesn't feed on humans. He's good. The others are too."

My brother's eyes widened in horror. Oops. "_Others_?" he repeated. "There are other vampires? How many? We must communicate with the pack instantly!" Ugh. There he went with the pack thing again. Why couldn't they just use the right word for it? _Family_. Heritage. Not a freaking _pack_.

Emmett answered his question. "There are seven of us. The Cullens. Carlisle is our leader. Look, man, chill. We don't mean no harm, and besides, we've already made a truce with the other werewolves."

Both mine and Alec's head snapped up as we stared at Emmett. "Other werewolves? We're not werewolves. There are werewolves here, too? What kind of freakshow town is this?"

"Yeah, other werewolves. The Quileute tribe up in La Push were somekind of werewolves. But they're not like evil with a full moon and stuff, they're the 'protectors of humankind' or something." Emmett said, ignoring my other questions.

"So.." Alec began slowly. "Let me get this straight. Seven vampires. A werewolf tribe. And us. Are those the only mythical creatures in this town? Or are there any others we should know about?"

"Hold up. Emmett, what do you mean _were_ somekind of werewolves?"

"There haven't been werewolves in La Push for a long time. I think Ephraim Black was the last one, and Jacob, his grandson, is your age. So I guess it's just us vamps and loups now." He smirked widely.

"Alec? Cassy? What are you kids still doing out there?" My mother was standing in the doorway.

"Shit," I muttered. "Coming, Mom!" I called back to her. "Bye, Emmett. And thanks again for the lift."

"You're welcome, goldielocks." He grinned and got in the car.

I followed Alec, who was already walking up the small pathway to the house.

My mother gave me a warm smile. "Hi, honey. Who was that boy?"

"Emmett, Alice's big brother."

"Oh. Is he cute?"

I groaned. "Mom! _Please_!"

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I sometimes forget that I'm not supposed to ask questions about boy stuff. But I was a teenager too, once, you know."

"Mother," I sighed. "I am fully aware that you were once a teenager too, but even if I thought Emmett was cute I would never date him."

"Yeah, no vampire's gonna get his filthy hands on my lil sis, that's for sure." At some points in my life, I very much wanted to kill my brother. This happened to be one of them.

"Vampire?" my mother asked with wide eyes. Thanks, Alec. Thanks a lot. Now mom was going to be all paranoid for no reason. Great. Freaking fantastic.

"Yes, a vampire. In fact, I think I'll just tell you, since Alec will anyways; there are seven vampires here in Forks and I hung out with every single one of them this afternoon. Happy?" She didn't look very happy.

"Cassidy Joanne Ákil! What will it take for you to get it? Mythical creatures are _dangerous_!"

"Yeah. Like dad, and me and Alec. We're dangerous too, Angelica!" I snapped, using her first name instead of Mom. "And we can fucking protect ourselves from a couple of vegeterian vampires!"

My mother's face turned a bright shade of red. She wasn't very fond of swearing. Actually, that was an understatement. "Cassidy. Go. Into. Your. Room. Right. Now." she said through her teeth. Even though I was the legendary female wolf shapeshifter, my mother was way scarier. I gritted my teeth and ran up the stairs. I heard my mom mutter something about teenage wolves and their temper. Yeah, she should know. She married one. But I'd inherited my temper from _her_, not my father. My father had, in a strange way, always reminded me of Tolkien's Gandalf, or Rowling's Dumbledore. Professor-like, wise and leader-ish. Always so calm and collected. He was the Loup Garoux leader. The _pack_ leader. I would have been the next leader. Usually, women ruled the wolves. They were leaders. But my grandmother didn't give birth do a daughter, and my father was such a good leader so he took over when she died. I would never become the leader now. My mother had seen to that.

I slammed my door shut and turned the key to lock it. Then I threw my self onto the bed and let the tears fall. I hated arguing with my mother. I hated being here in Forks. I was _supposed_ to hate vampires. And yet I didn't. I understood them. I sympathyzed with them. But I wanted to go home. I wanted to see my friends again, my family. Hell, I even wanted to see my ex-boyfriends. I wanted to see _Iceland_. The quiet, intimidating mountains. Black, rocky beaches. The deepblue see, and the endless fields of yellow and green. I had the strangest feeling in my stomach. It was like it was empty. No, not empty. Missing. Like I'd left it back in Iceland. But most of all, I missed my father, Caleb.

A quiet thud on my bedroom window made my head snap up. Alice sat on a tree branch outside of the window. I stood up from the bed, wiping the tears from my eyes, and opened the window.

"Alice? What are you doing here?" I asked the fairy-like vampire.

"I don't know what to do! I don't want to leave Forks! I-I.." she sobbed. She looked at me then and her golden eyes widened. "Cassidy, are you crying? What's wrong?"

"It's just.. I just.. I miss home." I shrugged.

She nodded, frowning at the floor. "I'm going to have that feeling soon, too."

I thought that over for a minute. "But, Alice.. Why do _you _have to go if Edward leaves?"

She sighed and sat down on my bed. "There's no denying Edward when he gets this stubborn. And we're family, we can't just leave him. We.. I.." She was sobbing again.

I sat down next to her and put my arm around her tiny shoulders. It felt a bit like hugging snow. "Yeah. I'd do the same for Alec. What is there that you don't do for your brother?" I mused.

She just nodded. We sat there for a moment before she sighed quietly and stood up. "I have to go, Jasper needs me."

"Okay. Will I see you tomorrow at school?"

She stared at nothing for a moment with a concentrating expression on her face. Finally, she smiled. "I hope so. Edward's not leaving just yet."

"Alice, when he decides it's time to leave, can you come say goodbye?"

"Of course." She smiled and I smiled back at her. "Goodbye, Cassidy." Then she vanished out my window so fast that human eyes would not have seen the blurry movement. But I did.

I undressed quickly and put on my pajamas. I lay down on my bed and the tears began to stream down my face again, now that Alice was gone. I fell asleep dreaming of another world. A better one. A snowy white one, with quiet, intimidiating mountains, black and rocky beaches, deepblue seas, endless fields of yellow and green and clear blue skies. A kingdom of fire, earth, air and water. Lots and lots of water. My home. Iceland.


	4. Chapter 4

**Storyline: **Cassidy Ákil is a seventeen year old girl from Iceland. When she moves to Forks, Washington at the beginning of New Moon, she discovers dark, hidden secrets. But Cassidy has a secret of her own.

**A/N:** _Italicized _sentences are from the real _Twilight Saga: New Moon_ book. Absolutely no copyright infragement intended. Stephenie Meyer owns all the brilliancy that is Twilight. I own nothing but myself.

I got a question the other day, asking me who was my favorite Twilight character and what character I most related to. Alice and Emmett are definitely my two most favorite characters, but I relate most to Leah. Yes -sigh- I know. She's the werewolf bitch who nobody likes. But I don't see it that way. Leah had her heart broken. Sure she takes it out on the rest of the pack, but she was still betrayed by the one she loved. In my opinion, Jake and the others should be more supportive. No one should have to carry such a burden as a broken heart, all alone. And besides, I have exactly the same sarcastic humor as Leah, and a overly optimistic brother named Alec. He may not seem like it in this story, but he is an annoying optimistic who loves any challenges. Kind of like Seth, only he's older than me. So yeah, Emmett and Alice are my favs, but Leah's the person I relate to because we're so alike (only I'm not as bitchy as she is.. I think).

Review, please. :)

_Chapter four: Running free._

The next day at school, Alice didn't show up. I waited anxiously for lunch to arrive so I could start interrogating Edward. As I walked into the cafeteria, I noticed how different he was from yesterday. Yesterday at lunch, he'd been so _alive_. Smiling, laughing, joking. Now, his face was a hard mask. His golden eyes were cold and solid. He looked very much like the vampire he was. He looked.. _dead_.

As I sat down at the table, next to Bella, she was asking him about Alice.

"_She's with Jasper_," Edward told her.

"_Is he okay_?" Yes, a glitch in her brain. She was worried about the vampire who'd tried to kill her yesterday.

"_He's gone away for a while_." Edward's eyes flickered to me in a hostile way, like I was an intruder. Which I kind of was. But I really didn't care.

"_What? Where_?" Bella's eyebrows pulled together, creasing her forehead with wrinkles of worry. She still looked very beautiful. With her warm brown eyes, she reminded me of a sad puppy. A wolf pup. Dogs didn't have such deep, wise eyes.

Edward shrugged. "_Nowhere in particular_." Geez, the guy couldn't even give her a straight answer.

"_And Alice, too_." The quiet desperation was clear in Bella's voice.

"_Yes. She'll be gone for a shile. She was trying to convince him to go to Denali_." Because _you're _making them leave, I thought angrily. Edward was such a... I ran through swear words in my head but didn't find anything that really fit, so I just settled with _bitch_. Edward Cullen was a bloodsucking _bitch_.

"What's in Denali?" I asked.

"Denali is where the one other band of unique vampires, good ones like us, live," Edward said in a bored voice.

Bella swallowed with a quilty expression. Like it was _her_ fault the vampire named Jasper didn't have self-control. What a strange girl.

"_Is your arm bothering you_?" Edward asked her solicitously. He was very blind for someone with supersight.

"_Who cares about my stupid arm_?" Bella muttered in disgust.

"Don't know. But you definitely should," I said with a weak smile on my lips.

The rest of lunch went by in silence after that and I didn't see either of them for what was left of the day.

It wasn't raining that day, much to my relief, so I walked the few blocks to my new home. My mother was still at work, and Alec had gone to Seattle for the day to check out some aparments, so I was alone in the house. It felt odd, but still nice.

I finished my homework in less than an hour and went downstairs to watch movies, since I had absolutely nothing to do. I was a very creative person, but I could never seem to find anything to do. Especially in a town this small.

I'd finished watching Honey with Jessica Alba and Step Up 1, when I decided dancing was a good way to make time go by. So I got up from the couch - which had arrived this morning with the rest of our furniture, and car - and stalked into the kitchen to find a knife. I went back into the living room and cut open one of Alec's boxes which I knew had CD's in it. I picked out some of my favorite hiphop music and returned the knife back into the kitchen. Then I drew all of the curtains back over the windows and put a Destiny's Child CD in the stereo. As the music began playing, I began dancing.

I was a very good hiphop dancer, but I was always way too shy to show it to anyone besides my brother and a couple of my best friends. The only people who would never judge me. I realized that Alice could probably see me dancing, too, what with her future seeing and all. I blushed as I thought about that.

Alice had to be a way better dancer than me; simply by walking, she could make any ballerina die of envy, her movements were so graceful. I tried to imagine Alice as the lead chick in Step Up and Jasper in baggy jeans, dancing with her. The image in my head would pretty much have been hilarious if the two people weren't inhumanly beautiful vampires.

After about one and a half hours, I turned off the stereo and took a shower. The hot water was refreshening in a strange way. Water had always been my escape from life. Back in Iceland, I'd been on my hometown's swimmingteam. I could have won every single race if I'd wanted to. But that would've meant cheating, and that wasn't fair. I had both superstrength, speed and I could also hold my breath for about four hours straight. So swimming came very natural to me. I loved being in water, swimming, diving, or simply floating. Underwater, it was a world full of silence. I could dive down deep and with my eyes closed, listen to nothing but the silence of the water.

My father had been very much into astrology, and he'd always joked about how water was my true home, Pisces being my astrological Sun sign. I knew my astrology map very well. I had Sun in Pisces, Moon in Scorpio, Mercury in Aquarius, Venus in Capricorn, Mars in Leo and a Rising Virgo. Of course, I had absolutely no idea what the hell that all meant, but my father had. He'd understood me better than anyone else on the planet. I'd always been his favorite child, while Alec was our mother's. I was so much more like my father; full of hopes and dreams, with a mix of sarcasm. Creative visionaries, he used to call us.

My mother and brother were both way more practical. My mother thought prophecies, destinies and dreams were just nonsense. She was a very down-to-earth kind of type. My brother too, but in a different way. He had his creative side, she didn't. He had his music. Sure, he was a great rap-artist, but that was nothing compared to listening to him play the violin or the piano. It was.. heavenly. My mother had been a total geek when she was younger. Always beautiful and funny, but a geek. A math and science nerd. She believed in things she could touch, feel and see for herself. That's why she didn't believe in the prophecy about me..

I turned off the water and stepped outside the shower. I had been longer than usual, being so lost in thought. Thinking of my father always made me lost in my own thoughts.

I got dressed quickly and made an attempt to brush out the knots from my hair. After about ten minutes of struggling with the hair mother nature had left me with, I sighed and put the hairbrush down. I'd just have to wait till it'd dry so I could brush my hair. I had very thick hair, which hung in loose curls in a chaotic way around my head. It wasn't messy - actually, most of my friends said it looked pretty hot. My best friend, Lyla Williams, had called it 'sex hair'.

I smiled to myself as I thought of Lyla. She had been my best friend since we were.. well, born I think. She had dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes that constantly sparkled with excitement. She was pretty short and very athletic. She was on the cheerleading squad back in our hometown. She was the only cheerleader there who wasn't a total arrogant biatch. Lyla had a great sense of humor, and was a total tom-boy despite the whole cheerleading thing. Her favorite thing to do was skateboarding. She was great at it, too. She often reminded me of the singer Avril Lavigne. Not that much in looks, but they had the exact same personality. Lyla was extremely cheerful, very outgoing and always the life of the party, though she could be very serious and supportive when she put her mind to it. I could tell Lyla anything. She was a true best friend. She also happened to be a Loup Garoux, like me.

I went into the living room to find my brother sprawled across the couch, playing Grand Theft Auto.

"Hey, Alec. How was Seattle?" I asked, sitting down crosslegged on the couch and placing my chin in my palm.

"Oh, hey, sis. It was awesome man, I find the coolest aparment! There are other buyers and stuff, but I'll probably get it. The owner's son is a total fan of mine and Kilo's music, so it's probably a done deal." He grinned at me and I grinned back. Kilo -or Richard, as he was rightly named- was Alec's best friend and co-rapper.

"Neat."

"Mhm." He nodded, his eyes glued to the TV screen. "Hey, you wanna play Need For Speed?"

"Yeah, sure. I've got nothing else to do."

"Don't you guys have homework at this school, or what?" he asked, handing me a PlayStation remote control.

"Yep, but I finished it already." I sighed.

"Then what the hell are you sighing about?"

"Boredom. There's nothing to do in a town this small when you have no friends, and the people you could call friends are vampires that are moving away." I sighed again.

"The vamps are moving out? Woohoo!"

I glared at him with my left eyebrow raised. "You shouldn't judge them so harshly. If you think about it, we're the same as them."

Alec stared at me like I had three heads. "We are _not_ the same as those reeking bloodsuckers. Don't you ever say that Cassidy Joanne."

"Whatever. Alice is my friend, even if she is a reeking bloodsucker. And stop calling me by both names, Alec Vincent."

He narrowed his eyes at me, but let it go. We played Need For Speed in silence for a while before I yawned and stood up.

"That's enough video games for today," I said, walking into the kitchen. "When does Mom get off work?"

"Eight or nine p.m., I think."

I looked at the clock. It showed 07:00 pm.

"'Kay." My stomach growled. "I'm going to make early dinner. You want some?"

"Sure. What are we having?"

"I was thinking Thai - fried fish in soursweet souce."

"Cool."

While I cooked the food, I kept staring out the window. I didn't really know why. I just felt a sudden instinct - a need, almost - to watch the woods. Strange...

When dinner was ready, I called my brother and we sat down to eat. I put a piece of the food aside for mom to heat up when she got home and put it in the fridge.

"So, what'd you do today?" Alec asked while we were eating.

"Nothing special. Just went to school, did homework, watched a couple of movies and danced for a while."

"What movies?"

I blushed. "Honey and Step Up."

"_Again_? Geez, how can you stand watching the same movies and reading the same books over and over again? It's so goddamn.. _repetitive_!"

I sighed and poked the food on my plate with my fork. I wasn't really that hungry anymore. I wanted to go into the woods before I went to sleep. To run. There was nothing that could be compared to the feeling of freedom when I ran as a wolf. No bounderies, no laws. Just endless nature, and I was connected to all of it, but yet somehow distant. The feel of the light wind in my fur, my strong legs pushing me off the forest floor, fully aware of everything in my surroundings. So free, so untamed.

I stood up and put my dish in the dishwasher.

"I'm going out," I said to Alec and headed for the door.

"No, you don't. You're not going out to visit those bloody vampires!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not going out to visit the Cullens. I'm going out running."

"Oh," was all he said.

"Yeah, _oh_."

Instead of putting on my sneakers like a normal human being, I took off my socks and pants and stepped outside into the cold in nothing but a T-shirt and female boxers. It was freezing. Just the way I liked it.

Part of the reason why we'd bought this house, was that it was surrounded by trees and stood up on a hill. No noisy neighbours.

I leaped up into the air and a familiar, silver light surrounded my body. A fraction of a second passed and I landed as a wolf on the wet ground. I looked down at my white paws and grinned my lopsided wolf-grin. I was free now. No one could ever catch me once I started running. I had my father's speed, while Alec had his strength. My brother was a huge black wolf with eyes the color of lightblue sapphire. My fur was snowy white and my eyes were a brilliant obsidian.

I was running through the woods at full speed when something caught me off guard. It was such a familiar sound, yet I didn't know the owner of it. It was a howling wolf. But not a normal one. I could hear the difference. It wasn't a Loup Garoux, though. It was something else. Something of wolf kind.. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I was at a beach now. There were ruins of a bonfire there, and driftwood lay all over the place. The island in the ocean before me told me where I was. I'd seen it on the map, it was James Island. I was at the First Beach, in La Push, where the Quileutes lived. The Quileutes! Of course! Emmett had said they were a werewolf tribe, once. A long time ago. But clearly not _that_ long ago.

My head snapped in the direction of the east as I heard the sound of paws hitting the ground. _Thud-thud, thud. Thud-thud, thud. Thud-thud, thud. _Like a heartbeat. There were two of them, I guessed. Maybe three. And they were big. Way bigger than me. Bigger than bears. I swallowed hard and lowered my ears. They were coming closer.

Suddenly, they were there. On the top of the beach, looking down at me. One was huge and black, - he reminded me of Alec - but I couldn't see the other one clearly. The black one was definitely the leader. He seemed to be giving the other one orders, sending him away.

When the other wolf had left, the black one came closer.

_Who are you? Or should I be asking, __**what**__ are you?_ he asked in wolf language.

_My name is Cassidy. I come in peace, friend. I'm a Loup Garoux. A wolf shapeshifter. Much like yourself. Are you a descendant of Ephraim Black?_

_Loup Garoux? Never heard of them before. But no, I'm not Black's grandson. _He barked a laugh._ I'm Sam Uley._

_Nice to meet you, Sam._

He grinned.

_Nice to meet you too, Cassidy. _He hesitated, then asked, _Are there more of you?_

_Us Loup Garoux? Yeah, there's my brother Alec. But none other in America, as far as I know._

_Okay. But what are you exactly?_

_We are the best of man and the best of beast. We are not men that turn into wolves, but wolves that turn into men. We do not harm humans, nor do we protect them in particular. We are what we are, and try to stay out of others' business. We were worshipped throughout Romania in centuries passed. Our history even leads back to Ancient Egypt. What are you?_

_Hm.. Interesting. We're basically just wolf-spirit-warriors, or something like that. We're the protectors of human kind, enemies of vampires._

_Ah, yes, the Cullens? _I asked.

_You know about the Cullens?_

_Yes. Two of them are in my class. _I grinned.

_How old are you?_ he asked.

_Seventeen. I was moved up a grade. What about you?_

_Twenty._

_Cool. My brother's twenty-four._

_How does that work? Does it run in your family to be Loup Garoux, or are you bitten..?_

_It's in our blood. Our heritage. It's the same with you, if I'm not mistaken?_

_Yes. But only males are wolves in our tribe._

_Huh. Poor girls. The women in our family are the leaders. Being a wolf is awesome._

He growled and bared his teeth. _Not for us, it isn't._

_Why not? _I pretended not to notice his hostility.

_There are many reasons... We're dangerous for one thing. _He winced at some memory that was hidden to me.

_Yes, that can be a bit of a flaw. Having fangs and all._

He laughed without humor. _Yeah. _He raised his head up into the air and seemed to be listening to something. _The others are calling. I have to go. Goodbye, Cassidy._

_Calling?Oh, well, bye then. _I wagged my tail as if to wave goodbye.

_We can read each others' thoughts,_ he explained. _See ya around._

_Yeah, see ya._

But he was already gone.

When I got home, mom was waiting for me with an angry lecture. I cut her off before she could start.

"Just out running, mom. Nothing dangerous."

She narrowed her eyes a bit and raised one eyebrow. "You know, it's only for your own good that I'm doing this. You'll get in trouble one day, Cassidy, and I won't always be there to look out for you. Stay away from that vampire coven."

I sighed. "Don't bother, mom. They're leaving."

"Oh. Well, that's good then." She nodded to herself and went into the living room.

Rolling my eyes at her back, I dragged myself up the stairs. It was a good exercise to run around if you weren't tired enough to go to sleep. I was definitely tired enough now.

--

The next day went by pretty much the same. Alice didn't show up for school, but both Bella and Edward did. Edward's face was the same hard mask and Bella's eyebrows kept pulling together, creasing her forehead. She was worried, and I didn't blame her. I wondered what she would have done if she had known Edward was going to leave her - soon. Probably pass out or something. I could very much picture Bella as the fainting type. The damsel in distress. She was clumsy and shy, with blushing cheeks and lip chewing. And of course, like every other damsel in distress that you read about in books, beautiful. Edward wasn't the knight in shining armor, though. He was the fanged dark angel that had drained his own white horse of it's blood. And also a total bitch.

Bella had brought her camera to school that day, and had put Jessica in charge of taking pictures of everyone. And everyone included me. Mike Newton, the genius, got a snapshot of me with my mouth full of a granola bar. Great. So now everytime Bella was sad she could just take out the picture of me and laugh at the idiotic expression on my face. Fabulous.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, except for Gym. That was the only class I had to really focus in, because I was so good at all the others. Spanish was a bit tough at times, but I did good. In Gym however, you had to watch out so a ball wouldn't hit your head, and we had volleyball today. I got teamed up with Angela and got to know her a bit as we played. She was friends with Bella and Jess. Angela Weber was a really nice person. She was shy, thoughtful and caring. She was clearly a good friend. I'd liked her instantly my first day in Forks, since she was the only person who had talked to me that day. Well, besides the vampires.

--

The day after that passed in the same blur. I sat by Angela at lunch that day, but I was secretly spying on Bella. I noticed her palms were sweaty, and her forhead was always creasing in worry. Edward's face remained the same bitter, hard mask.

When I got home, I started with my homework and finished it in less than an hour - again. We only had to do a paper on some of Faulkner's work and I knew that all pretty well, so I finished it quickly. Like yesterday, I went downstairs and watched a couple of movies. The Covenant and The Fellowship of the Ring, this time. I was in the mood for magic and stuff. And Steven Strait was just so damn _hot_, not to mention Legolas.

Just when Frodo and the others were meeting Queen Galadriel, the phone rang. I paused the movie and went to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Oh, Cassidy, good it's you! Listen, I need you to do something - a favor. And fast." I recognized the high-soprano voice instantly.

"Sure, Alice. What do you need?"

"Go into the woods and track down Bella's scent. But make sure you don't think about me at all while you're at it." Hm, what a strange favor. But I wasn't going to deny my friend.

"Okay. Sure. No problem."

Alice exhaled in a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Cassidy. I owe you one. But, I have to go. Bye." She hung up.

I put the reciever down and got a pencil and a piece of paper.

_Went out running,_

_C._

Alec would probably not be home anytime soon, and mom was working till nine, but I left the note on the kitchen table just in case.

I stuffed a T-shirt, jeans, socks and my sneakers into my small leather backpack, strapped it onto my back and phased into my wolf form as soon as I was out the door. I wasn't sure if I was going to need clothes or not, but it was always best to be prepared.

Tracking Bella was easy, and I found Edward's scent intwined with hers. I tracked the scent deep into the woods, until it was just Bella's scent. Edward had gone back, I realized, and left her in the woods. Bella. The clumsy, damsel in distress. The danger magnet with a possible glitch in her brain. I knew what had happened. Why Alice had sounded so worried. He'd left. He'd left Bella all alone and heartbroken deep in the woods, and vanished. Sudden hatred began to boil in my chest. Who did he think he was, anyway? How the hell could he break Bella's heart like that, and leave her in danger? What the _fuck_ was wrong with the guy? I didn't know, and I necessarily didn't care, but I knew one thing for sure. _I_ wasn't going to fail Bella. I was going to have to take the Cullens' place, protect her. I didn't understand this sudden maternal instinct, but it was extremely strong.

It was dark when I finally found her. She was lying on the wet ground. It'd taken me long to find her because I had to avoid the humans looking for her. They'd probably shoot me if they saw me. But I couldn't track Bella with my human nose; I still had a cold.

I heard a voice near me that I recognized. A man's voice. I'd only heard the wolf version of it, but I knew it the moment I heard it. It was Sam Uley's voice. I ran in the direction his voice was coming from. When Sam saw me, I knew he recognized me, too.

"What is it, Cassidy?" he whispered.

I nudged him with my nose and gestured him with my paw to follow me.

"Alright, Cassie." He smiled and I grinned my lopsided wolfgrin. I suddenly realized Cassie rimed with Lassie and barked out a laugh. Sam's smile turned into an eyewrinkling grin.

I led him to where Bella lay, and then took off. It wouldn't be wise to stay, even though I was curious about Bella. I would visit her tomorrow and see how she was doing. Tomorrow she would need a friend, and I was going to be there for her, wether she liked it or not. I was going to be her rock. Her shoulder to cry on. And I was _determined_ to heal her broken heart, one way or another.

_A/N:_ Remember when Bella was in New Moon and after Edward left her, she wandered around in the woods and then:

"_Suddenly, there was another sound, startlingly close. A kind of snuffling, an animal sound. It sounded big. I wondered if I should feel afraid. I didn't—just numb. It didn't matter. The snuffling went away_."

That's Cassidy, in my story. It's probably supposed to be Sam in the actual book, but this is my version of what happened. Lol.


End file.
